


Watchers

by coralysendria



Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers - All Fandoms, Thor (2011)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-10
Updated: 2012-06-10
Packaged: 2017-11-07 11:31:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/430634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralysendria/pseuds/coralysendria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're watching as Thor tries to retrieve Mjöllnir.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watchers

Clint Barton watches. He stands patiently in his high station, bowstring drawn back, unconsciously compensating for the rain, wind, and swaying of his perch. Such things are second nature to him; he doesn't need to think about them while he stares down the length of his arrow at the drama unfolding below.

The big blond guy is cocksure and impressive. While he may just be a local redneck on a dare, that seems highly unlikely. He moves with intent, obviously going for the hammer. Whether he'll be any more successful than anyone else at pulling it out of the ground is another question entirely. Assuming, of course, that he even reaches it.

If he had to wager, Barton would come down on the blond guy's side. He watches as Blondie gets closer to the center of the installation, and despite the fact that he's supposed to remain objective -- he may be ordered to put an arrow into the guy at any moment -- he finds himself hoping that Blondie will reach his target.

His hearing is nearly a match for his eyesight, but he's still a bit too far away to hear what Blondie is saying. He can read his lips, though. "You're big," he says, grinning up at the guard who just set him on his ass. "I've fought bigger."

* * * 

Agent Coulson watches. He is quite interested in the outcome of this little incursion. It is obvious that the intruder is trying not to seriously hurt anyone, which courtesy Coulson appreciates. Training new agents is expensive.

Coulson knows more about what is going on than he has passed on to his subordinates. He knows, for instance, that the man below was checked into the local hospital by Dr. Foster and her friends and that the only name on his records was "Thor." He has seen the photo that sent Dr. Foster hurrying back to the hospital, the one of a man-shaped shadow passing through what she refers to as an "Einstein-Rosen bridge." He knows that the hammer is Thor's target -- well, what else would bring him here? -- and he knows that it _belongs_ to Thor. 

Dr. Selvig is not the only person who was raised on Norse mythology. If this man is truly the Thor of the stories...well, Coulson is not prepared to speculate on what that might mean. He has, however, been authorized by the Director to negotiate. But first he needs to see how this plays out.

"You'd better call it, Coulson," Barton says in his ear, "'cause I'm starting to root for this guy."

"Wait," he replies. Thor has finished with his latest opponent and is entering the center part of the installation. "I want to see this." He waves off other guards, and they all wait.

With a cocky smile, Thor reaches out to take the hammer...and is obviously shocked when he has no more luck pulling it from the ground than the rednecks did earlier in the day. Coulson waits. Like Barton, he has been rooting for the guy, but he recognizes defeat in the slumping shoulders even before Thor rears back and roars his confusion and pain at the storm. The primal cry touches even Coulson, but as Thor sinks to his knees, his hands loose on his thighs, all the fire gone out of him, Coulson merely calls off Barton and sends agents in to apprehend the intruder.

* * *

Jane Foster watches. She waits for Thor at the crater's edge, watching what goes on below through binoculars. She cannot see everything, but she does hear Thor's despairing bellow, and she sees him led away, an agent holding either arm. She sees that whatever happened down there has drained something vital from her very odd friend.

Jane waits until the base below settles, then backs away from the crater rim and runs for her car. She has no idea who he is or where he comes from or whether or not he's a madman, but she does know that right now, he needs her help.

* * *

Heimdall watches. Far beyond them all, farther than even Jane Foster could guess at, Heimdall stands his lonely vigil on the Rainbow Bridge and watches his prince's despair. His heart aches for Thor, but he understands the king's purpose in exiling the prince. He heard what the Allfather whispered to the mighty Mjöllnir just before he cast the hammer into the Bifrost. And he saw the trefoil on Mjöllnir's side glow briefly when the prince's arrogance ran out of him like the rain-water sluicing over him. The king has tried all Thor's life to teach him what kingship means, what he must be prepared to do for those he rules, but Thor has heard none of it. Now, though, it is just possible that he is prepared to learn.

It will not be long, Heimdall thinks, before the prince returns from his exile. Which can only be good, as the other prince -- the self-proclaimed new king -- is up to something....

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of these characters. No infringement is intended and no profit will be had hereby.


End file.
